New center provides U.S. schools an effective promotional platform for recruiting qualified Vietnamese students

IRVINE, Calif., April 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- California ETEC officially opened the Vietnam Education and Training Center (VETEC) in Ho Chi Minh City on March 22, 2013. VETEC is being launched in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration supported by ITA's Market Development Cooperator Program (MDCP) to respond to the growing importance of the Vietnam market as a source of international students. In 2011/2012, more than 15,000 students from Vietnam enrolled in U.S. institutions, placing it as the eighth largest host market. The direct economic benefits to the U.S. are even more staggering - tuition fees and living expenses generated from Vietnam totaled more than $250 million dollars in 2012.

U.S. schools currently have limited choices to effectively promote and recruit students in Vietnam. The traditional model of attending high-cost, low-yield study fairs or working through private study agencies is in need of refinement. According to Mark Matsumoto, President and CEO of California ETEC, "The launch of VETEC will provide US schools an in-country platform to aggressively augment efforts to promote, screen and recruit qualified students. VETEC will be staffed by a dynamic team of bi-lingual student advisors and marketing specialists. Services to U.S. education and training providers will include:

Year-round promotion of U.S. schools from a prime address in Vietnam

High impact advertising campaigns tailored to specific school needs

In-person student advising and counseling

Facilitation of student and faculty exchanges

Translation, interpretation and printing support

Coordination of in-country logistics and meeting schedules

Why Vietnam?

Vietnam has a population of 91 million and nearly 60% are under the age of 35, and the need to support this target population is huge. Despite increased investment in education, Vietnam is unable to meet the demands for quality education. In 2012 alone, nearly 2 million Vietnamese graduated from high school and yet less than 20% of these students could find a pathway into higher education in Vietnam. This provides unprecedented opportunities for U.S. high schools, community colleges, traditional four-year universities and training providers to fill this breach.